1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to restaurant services, and more particularly, to a server call system employing wireless communication protocol in a novel manner.
2. Description of the Related Art
One of the primary goals of a restaurant business is to provide prompt, efficient and courteous service to their customers while maintaining food quality. In furtherance of these goals, restaurants often implement electronic systems to help maintain communications between the customer, waiter/server and kitchen.
An example of such system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,720 which discloses an apparatus for the transmission of information in a restaurant. The apparatus discloses a waiter-restaurant information transfer system in which a principal treatment unit is disposed in the kitchen area. The principal unit includes a set of buttons associated with respective tables or a keyboard that can be operated by food service personnel to provide a display, at a board in the dining room and at a region at which the waiter can pick up prepared food service items. When the waiter responds to the signal at the pickup region, and upon pick up of the food service item, they press a push button or operate a keyboard to cancel the previous display.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,511,161 discloses an identification and control apparatus for service personnel for a restaurant. The disclosed method and apparatus divides the working space of the restaurant into selected stations and for assigning service personnel to these stations. Identification elements are associated with a respective subject layout which comprises a transparent plastic sheet on which are drawn divisions of the restaurant into separate sections and an underlying floor plan showing, on a reduced scale, the physical area of the restaurant. A correlation sheet is secured in proximity to the layout to indicate the particular subject associated with its respective identification element and its station in accordance with the number of stations the restaurant is to be divided at any given time of the day. A plurality of transparent sheets are furnished corresponding to the maximum number of divisions of the restaurant into separate sections.
Both the ""720 and ""161 patents are directed at organizing restaurant personnel in an effort to maintain an efficient and functional working environment. However, neither the ""720 nor ""161 patents consider the customer as a factor when implementing an efficient operation scheme. However, one of the most important considerations in a restaurant is their customer service. As such, the customer and the restaurant personnel""s service of the customer in an efficient manner is an integral part of successful operation of a restaurant. The most common complaint among restaurant goers is the inability to get the waiter""s attention when they would like to order something or request something from their waiter.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,250,491 and 5,699,039 disclose various devices for obtaining the waiter/server""s attention when the customer requires the same. The ""491 patent shows a table signal device that is situated at the customer table and is physically lifted by the customer to signal their need for the waiter/server""s attention. A light on the top of the device is illuminated when the customer raises the sign to make it highly visible. The ""039 patent discloses a menu stand or similar device that includes a xe2x80x9ccall waiterxe2x80x9d button at its base. When the customer presses the xe2x80x9ccall waiterxe2x80x9d button a thin electroluminescent (EL) surface element mounted on the menu holder that enables the menu holder to be illuminated in order to summon the waiter/server.
The devices disclosed in the ""491 and ""039 patents require the customer to summon the waiter/server, wait for them to arrive, request the item or items desired and then wait for the waiter to retrieve the requested item(s). This series of events, although common, do not promote, and in fact hinder the efficient operation of a restaurant establishment. Thus, it would be desirable to provide a system that can eliminate this series of inefficient steps and enable the customer to be in direct communication with the waiter during their stay at the restaurant.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a server call system that increases service efficiency in a restaurant establishment.
This and other objects are achieved in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention in which a server call system comprises a customer transmitter disposed at each customer location within a restaurant and a server receiver in wireless communication with said transmitter and being carried by service personnel with the restaurant. The customer transmitter includes an input keypad adapted to receive customer item requests and a display for displaying a plurality of information to the customer. The server receiver includes a display screen for displaying received item requests from said transmitter and at least one of an audible, visual and tactile indicator for indicating when a customer item request has been received from a customer transmitter.
In another embodiment, a central processing station is provided within the restaurant establishment to administrate communication between all customer location transmitters and server receivers. The central processing station includes all processing, memory and wireless communication protocol to administrate the system. The customer transmitters and server receivers can include transponders so as to enable the central station to identify the location of each transmitter and receiver. In this manner, the central station can administrate communication between the customer location transmitters and server receivers by routing customer item requests to the server receiver of the service personnel most closely located to a service area that is to be used to fulfill the customer item request.